His Other Half
by 1-10 were taken
Summary: Marco and Mabella have always been there for each other. Mabella is the older twin and feels she has to protect Marco from everything. But how can she escape fate? With an overbearing sister and tight sibling bonds how will Marco think differently of the world and bypass fate with no help? "Nec Possum Tecum Vivere, Nec Sine Te"
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

I felt the warm sun dress my face in gold as my eyes twitched. I could still feel the feathers beneath my head and wool draped my lower half, I nuzzled in deeper to the sheets. I smiled and stirred turning closer to the light to have it illuminate my skin and to wrap in its warmth, I raised my arms above my head stretching and basking in the warmth until my final moments of sleep which were not long off but I kept postponing the day for dreams. I suddenly felt the blankets fall off, my face turned sour as I tried to reclaim them reaching up, down and all around wooden floors only to find nothing there on my floor. I peeked through my eyes and squinted through the light, now it was blinding me they warm gold was making all around me blurs, to see a looming figure with red cloth in its arms, the red quilt I made for myself. I couldn't make out its face only its figure but I could tell who it was none the less.

"Give that back, Marc." I trailed off my eyes shut tight making me look like I was in agonizing pain when I was only trying to block the sun.

"You know you have to get up Mabella. Today's finally the day we can join the military and make our way to the MPs. But to do that you have to wake up."

"Yeah, but sleep." I rolled over and he rolled his eyes. I didn't see him do it but I know my brother well enough.

"Mabella get up now or I will get the bucket."

"You keep forgetting I'm the older one don't you?" I could hear his feet click with the ground as he made his way to the door and bring my demise, he only used cold water to get me up, why couldn't he use warm for once? "Okay, I'm up. Happy?" He turned and smiled at me with a look of accomplishment while I gave my signature glare that turned to a smile itself.

"I could be better, but this'll do." he turned out of my doorway dropping my blanket as he went. I sat up cursing the light and my brother.

"Great now my blanket will have dust and dirt all over it." I picked it up and threw it on my bed then made my way to my kitchen "You're washing my blanket Marco."

"No I'm not!" I heard as I turned a corner

"I thought this day would never come." In the kitchen, our mother had prepared an amazing breakfast consisting of a fair amount of pork, eggs, and fruit. "What's the occasion?" I asked already knowing the answer. My mother didn't say anything but came over and hugged me from behind as I sat down in my usual chair.

"You know the occasion Mabella. Your father and I couldn't be prouder of you two. Although what you're doing is dangerous, it's a great thing you two are willing to give yourselves up for the benefit of others."

"Okay Mom, you can let go now. Go hug Marco." I said gasping for breath as the woman strangled me.

"She already got me." he said as he shoveled sausage and bacon into his mouth.

"Then get him again." I said about to do the same

"You really are twins, aren't you? You do everything the same and you've been inseparable your wholes lives. I don't know how you rarely fight and get along so well all the time. Not to mention you look drastically alike and that's the tip of the iceberg."

"Older by five minutes." I said with pride.

"Doesn't really count." Marco said matching my tone.

"Calm down you two. If you plan on making through training you'll need to not fight with each other and get along as usual and have each other's back." Our father commented

"We're just playing right Marco? We'll always have each other's six."

"Right you are Polo."

"Really? That again?"

"I've been holding it in all morning. It's never gonna stop. Not till I die." He smirked at me with slight puff in his cheeks. All I did was roll my eyes, how foolish we were.

We left a little later that morning, taking with me the simple things like extra clothes and some mementos like my mother's locket and a family photo. He took the same but made more of a fuse over it. We turned our backs to our home leaving our parents in the dust and distance as they shrunk and became less defined. We walked through town, taking everything in for the last time before we left and who knew when we would be back? We traveled the gate that had a wagon waiting for us and anyone else dumb enough to join the military, and half the town came to bid us farewell. The wagon wasn't filled but it wasn't empty, looks like there weren't that many suicidal teens from our town. The people and the town itself did what our parents did and faded off like a hazy memory.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

The trip to our camp was a long one, at least it felt like it. In reality it was only three hours. But it felt like it was four or five. There were about fifteen of us on our wagon making our way to camp. I decided to stay in the back where wind could hit me and not be baking in a fire, and surprisingly enough my other half took to my side like he was bound by an invisible tether. The others didn't look special but they had some traits that stood out to me but not to most. Hell they were talking the entire way down and made their own pairings. A long haired red-ish brown haired girl took to the bald kid, Bitchface Mcgee took a liking to a blonde goddess, a reindeer sat near a tree; he basically was a tree, he was hella fucking tall. A blonde guy, I think, sat next to tall-ish, dark, and handsome with an oriental on his other side. Mr. Longface kept staring at her and Blonde Bitchface sat alone. They stood out by their looks and sense of superiority but nothing stood out more than us. Twins weren't unheard of, they were just uncommon, and we kept a close distance to each other like always, which made us seem even more different from them. Fraternal twins were more common than identical, especially a guy and a girl. Our parents got a rare and odd pair, but they loved us and protected us and all that other parent stuff. Eyes kept glancing our way, examining us up and down, comparing us in every way. We had the same face but mine was more feminine than his, we had the same freckles down to the spot they were in, we had the same eyes, his more kind than mine, we looked exactly alike, even down to our flat chests. The only real difference was our hair, it was the same color but mine was much longer and had slight waves and the sides were pulled back. The others looked at us in wonder while I looked at them with daggers, disgust, and a dash of fear while brother dear looked at them with welcoming warm eyes which made mine turn sweet like his. He was always quicker to kindness than I was. We may have been twins but we were really different in some cases. We made our way down the roads with the others still chatting and a Horse coming our way. He sat next to us and gave a nervous glance to me and then turned to talk to Marco instead.

"So..." he trailed off rubbing his hands between his legs and not knowing how to start a conversation.

"Yes, we are twins." I answered knowing his thought

"T-that's reall-y cool. I'm Jean Kirstein. Nice to meet you." He said in a rehearsed way

"I'm Mabella, and that's my younger brother Marco."

"Not that again. You're only older by five minutes."

"So you admit I'm the older one?" A smile can to my face, I had finally won this battle "Kirsteins a witness. Ain't that right horse-boy?" I turned to him with a cute smile and he agreed with a blush. Oh, how I loved the power of feminine charm. Good thing I'm a master at it or else I would have been in some deep shit back home. Not to get into details but let's just say that rooster didn't wake anyone up the next day.

"Jean, why'd you agree with her? Now she's never going to stop saying it, it didn't stop her before but now I won't hear the end of it. Like I was gonna hear the end of it but still."

"... Sorry. She manipulated me with her girlish charm. She's really good at it too."

"Yeah, she brought home dinner one night and Old Man Coo joined us then his rooster didn't crow the next day. I still don't know the full story of how she got out of it, she won't tell me." Jean looked horrified and had a new found fear/respect for me, could you blame him?

"And I never will tell you the gory details. Even I don't want to know them."

"How old were we then?"

"Seven going on eight I believe."

"... WHAT!? You killed and ate your neighbours rooster with said neighbour when you were eight!?" Jean was basically yelling and turned heads

"Dude if you think that's bad she has some other stories way worse." Marco reassured him "She's had a lot of adventures."

"And if Mom and Dad knew about my adventures I don't think I would be here to entertain you."

"You know I'll never tell, I'm somehow aboard that ship and I'm not sinking myself." Jean was so confused and slightly uncomfortable but he'd rather stay put over moving back to his original seat.

We finally got off the bumpy death trap and there was collective groans from exhaustion and hunger. We were already in uniform, so we just had to drop off our things and go to "orientation", fun. We dropped our stuff in our newly claimed bunks that weren't new at all, there was an odd number of girls so someone got their own, which I happened to claimed for myself. I met back up with Marco and stood by him in an orderly fashion, we were all lined up looking like cows to the slaughter, of course I knew what that looked like I lived on a fucking farm. Our instructor came out not long after we were all gathered, he was tall, dark, bald, loud, and most certainly not handsome. He went to everyone of us and yelled at us calling us Titan food, unfit, trash and other things but these stood out the most, okay they didn't stand out the most but they stuck in my mind. He headbut Mr. Longface, Jean, for saying he wanted to live in the interior and be an MP. I tried not to laugh at his pain but I could barely hold it and let out muffled coughs instead. I wondered what he would say to us? Words I'd never forget, that's what.

"WHAT IS YOUR NAME SOLDIER?" he was really loud when he stood next to you.

"MARCO BODT SIR. FROM JINAE SIR!"

"AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE BODT?"

"I AM HERE TO SERVE THE KING IN THE MILITARY POLICE SIR!" He walked past him and on to me after he forced unkind words on him and I almost broke rank to defend Marco.

"WHO ARE YOU MAGGOT?"

"MABELLA BODT SIR. FROM JINAE SIR." I had a solid solute and determination in my eyes, not to mention disgust for yelling at my brother for wanting to do good.

"BODT, IS THIS YOUR BROTHER?"

"YES SIR. WE ARE TWINS SIR."

"LETS HOPE YOU BRING THE LUCK YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO. WHY ARE YOU HERE BODT?"

"TO SERVE THE KING AND FIGHT FOR HUMANITY. I WANT TO ERADICATE THE TITANS AND KEEP THOSE I LOVE SAFE. SIR."

"I SAY THAT'S A FINE GOAL FOR A SUICIDAL BRAT LIKE YOURSELF, YOU'LL MAKE A FINE SNACK." He walked off and left me with suicidal brat ringing in my ears and Marco giving me a look of fear and sadness. The bald boy from the ride up was not to far after me and he did his solute on the wrong side, Shadis picked him up by the head and yelled at him louder than he did with us. A girl caught his attention by eating a potato, so he dropped poor bald Connie and walked over to Sasha she said her name was. He questioned why she was eating it and why now of all times and she gave the response of "IT WAS GETTING COLD, SO I GAVE IT SHELTER IN MY STOMACH." and "Are you asking me why we eat potatoes, Sir? I'm surprised you don't know." she lost meal privileges for five days and had to run till sunset while I coined the nickname Potato Girl.

Dinner was a new experience. I didn't like the setup so much, anyone could sit anywhere, nothing was claimed, there was no order at all. If there's one thing I hate it's no order, and cold food. Green eyes brown hair sat with the oriental and the blonde who I found out where Armin and Mikasa and my favorite was Eren. I would never forget that name or face. I was interrupted in thought by a tray belonging to my brother slammed down in front of me and saw my "lack" of food on my tray. So he was tried to force more food on me as he usually did, but I ate fine I just had a slimmer body type and he never got that. After I got him to stop another person joined us, Jean came over and took the seat next to me.

"I saw you about to laugh your ass off when he headbutted me, suicidal brat."

"Couldn't help it, you looked so... pathetic." I took a piece of bread and ate it

"Jean, " Marco tried to cut the tension I had formed

"Yeah, Marco?"

"Please don't call my sister a suicidal brat."

"Damn I thought he would hit you harder, I was hopping you would forget some stuff." Jean shot me daggers.

"I mean this in the nicest way but you're a bitch."

"And you're a horse face motherfucker, neigh neigh." He was very surprised at my retaliation and his new nickname, I was on a roll with nicknames today.

"Mabella, you're not off to a good start making friends."

"Why would I want him to be my friend? I would rather want Eren and the blonde, Armin that's his name."

"Eren? He's all talk. He'll be out of here in a couple days max. He might be more of a bitch than you actually." Jean went to eat his soup when I kicked his shin and he spilled the spoon full all over his shirt.

"Alright, you're about equal." he said trying to ease the burning

"I would appreciate if you didn't call my sister a bitch Jean." Marco said with a concerned look.

"Marco, I can hold my own. If he wants to call me a bitch he can. It doesn't bother me."

"Well it bothers me. I know you're not a bitch, just... defensive."

"That I am brother. That I am."

"How come you have this idea in your head that you can protect me and I can't protect you? Like how you said you want to kill all the Titans and keep those you love safe? You're not going for the MPs are you Mabella?"

"I said what I said and that's how I think and feel. I don't want to run behind another wall to be a corrupt glorified soldier. I want to live my own life and actually help something change in this world." He looked at me with sadness and like I betrayed him. But I didn't I just thought differently. "Hmmmm, I don't know what I want to do Marco. Running is a coward's and Jean's job but fighting is a hero's duty. I want to be a hero, I just don't know the most logical way to get there yet."

"Hello, fighting siblings, I'm still here."

"Shut up Jean. We're not fighting, just discussing the paths we want and how to get there."

"In a little bit of a rude manner." Jean added

"All you want to do is hide Jean. At least I have some real ambition." with that I got up and left passing by Eren's crowd. They were talking about Wall Maria and the two new breeds of Titans. I heard Eren say how he was gonna kill them all and get revenge for all the useless killing they do. I liked the way he thought, it wasn't what everyone else thought or even said. He had a drive, one that would take him far, and I liked that even more than I liked him.

I sat outside the mess hall gazing at the stars like I did back home. Jean had gotten my blood running faster and Marco tried to bring it back down. Marco had always tried to keep me calm and happy, I thought it was because when I get mad, I get mad; you-better-go-for-cover mad I mean. I never really knew why he wanted to protect me that badly I was the older one I should be protecting him. But the stars gave me a sense like none other, when I looked at them I felt like I was suspended in animation: nothing pulling or pushing me in any way like I just existed and I was just there. Swimming gave me the same sense, but I never swam much due to lack of swimming ponds in my town. I spaced out for a little and when I came to I could hear Jean starting a fight with what sounded like Eren. Minutes later Eren came stomping out with Mikasa at his tail and Jean looking blessed? Or enthralled? Yet the most pissy face I've ever seen.

"You should worry about other things than me. Like your hair, it'll keep up with you in a bad way during training." Eren said begging his sister at bay

"Okay, how short do you think I should cut it?" She said as they trailed farther away from light.

"My hairs pretty damn long, longer than her's. Maybe I should cut it too?" I thought out loud and stalked off, I could see Jean out of the corner of my eye on my way to my bunk wiping something on Connie's back. I never knew what he actually wiped on him but it wasn't my clothes so who cares?I went to the barracks and I found a pair of shears in my dorm and took them to the bathroom along with my long hair. I took the middle mirror and began to hack it all off, I wanted something my parents never let me have. I gave off little grunts indicating I was doing something but not exclusively what I was practicing. I took my hair to above my chin and made a pixie out of it. I gazed at the finished product in glory because it rather suited me, it was short and to the point, wouldn't get in my way, my parents never let me because a girl should have longer hair, but I did what I wanted. I noticed as I stared in the mirror that my hair resembled Eren's but just a tad shorter. I cleaned all the hair out of the sink and off the floor and threw it outside in the wind to decay somewhere north. The night started to wind down so I made my way back to my bunk, people gave me looks on the way back, looks of confusion that is. They couldn't decide if I was Eren or Marco. The new hair threw them off until I went into the girls dorms when I could see their faces with "Oohhhh"s. The girls were more surprised by it than any guys. They asked if I was in the wrong dorm because they thought I was really Marco or Eren. Until I spoke they couldn't have come to a conclusion. I went to bed with whispers echoing through the cabin, the words rang like ghosts as we all drifted out farther.

The next morning was a burden or a more like a trifle. I woke up as I always did, but with no sun bearing down, no blankets to be ripped off, no one calling me Polo. So I guess it wasn't like how I always woke up. But I woke up. I sat up grudgingly and saw the bustle of the girls around me, they were already dressed for breakfast and training, with no one bothering to tell me anything about the day or that it even started. I gathered myself with just barely time to spare and made my way to the dining hall, I opened the door and once again eyes were on me. They were all shocked by my new look but Marco's face was the icing. I took my seat across from him while he gaped at my new look with wide eyes.

"Marco, you're gonna catch flies like that." I began settling myself for what they called a "meal".

"Mabella, your hair- i-it's gone."

"Yeah, it was to long for training so I cut it. Eren's the one who gave me the idea actually. Don't you like it?" I smiled at him while his face didn't change

"It's short. It doesn't look bad, just different." his face changed to sadness

"Hey, Eren, that seat is saved for someone else-" Jean's eyes traveled from me to the real Eren and then to Marco, making a full circle back to me. "You're not Eren."

"No shit, Horseface."

"Mabella, I didn't expect you to cut your hair. It was better longer. Eren gave you the idea didn't he?" He seemed off by my new hair, almost sad himself.

"The one who gave me the idea? Yeah, Mikasa cut hers too, I really like her length."

"It's a good length, I guess. But longer hair looks better." Jean sat down and his face flushed.

"Jean, are you saying you wish I kept my hair? You liked it didn't you? You have a thing for girls with long hair, don't you Jean Kirstein?" I turned to him, exposing what little of a secret he had. "Well Jean, I don't return your feelings but please don't let this come in the way of us friends, okay? I grabbed his hands in mine and gave him my signature puppydog eyes "Please Jean, for me?"

"N-no. You can have your hair at any length, it doesn't change the fact that-" He was almost scarlet.

"'That-' what Jean." the most sinister smirk I could muster crawled upon my face, twisting at the corners. He turned to Marco for guidance, but he gave him a you're-on-your-own look, leaving him stranded and facing reality. He never finished that sentence because after I caught him he left our table. As his back turned on us and shrank I smiled at my partner in crime and laughed for the first time since life had changed. "Thanks, Marco. You never disappoint when it comes to teasing."

"Anytime, Polo. I've always been there before and I'll be there til the end. But, yeah Jean definitely has a thing for long hair and you for that matter." He took a swig of coffee "But I can't believe you cut your hair, Moms gonna flip when she finds out. She always loved your hair."

"We have the same hair, the same color, texture, consistency. It's literally the same hair, she just wanted it long."

Breakfast ended not too long after and we all made our way to the 3DM Gear Practice Rigs. There was confusion among everyone, now realizing there was two Marco's, even Shadis didn't know the difference between us so when he called out Bodt he pointed to me and said Marco. Most people did well on the Rigs, being able to balance and not fall over was the key. Tight but loose at the same time. Although some people didn't get that, like Eren kept on falling and hitting his head. I hoped he would be seemed fine, but he must've been pissed because there was steam coming from his ears, literally. I excelled at the Rig while Marco was just at my heel, he would always be there wouldn't he?

That night I don't remember all that well, most of it was blurs. But there were some spots where the blurs took form: Eren was whining, Sasha wanted food, no one would help Eren learn the Rig. Yeah it was mostly blurs and Eren. God only knows how I made it to bed, Marco probably. I had too much "fun" again didn't I?


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

The next three years went by considerably fast. I had kept my hair short, while Jean was still sad at the look of it, so we still teased him for having a school boy's crush on his best friend's sister. We had all grown taller and I was finally distinguishable from Marco up north, in the mountains, I mean. I had no opinion change from Eren and I was better at hiding it than Jean, and thankfully Mikasa didn't know or else I wouldn't be here to tell you all of this. I still sent him little things on Valentine's Day, just some flowers I kept alive from Summer or candy Mom sent Marco and I. But soon enough we were true soldiers, most of us anyways, and had plans. Me being the exception, I still hadn't decided where I would go. I didn't want to leave my brother who only saw the good and couldn't see the bad, but I also didn't want to run and hide behind yet another wall.

The city of Trost was busy when we got there, it seemed to always be like this. People could see us coming and forged a path for us to walk out of not fear or disgust but because we were soon to be enlisted in a Regiment and most of us would die soon. I could tell some were pleased with us because the top ten could join the MPs and that was an honor. Most of us would join the Garrison and the left overs would be get a death wish.

"Hey, Jean. Don't you live around here? Are you planning on visiting your mom? Thomas already saw his family, I bet you want to too." Marco and I crawled up next to Jean and he gave us looks, I don't know how to describe it but it was like a warning.

"Oh, come on. Horseface, you've got to see your parents. Who knows the next time you'll be able to?" Over these few years I've kept my hair short and Jean, Marco, and I grew closer. We still jabbed at each other in not so friendly ways but you know, we were cool. He and Marco became good friends real fast but Marco never pushed me away because of it. I was still his number one and he my number two, yin to yang, night to day, light to dark, good to evil, another analogy, you get the point. He gave me a sharp look but it was softer than what Marco received, but still pretty fucking sharp.

"I don't want to go home. There wasn't anything for me there for a while now so why go back to nothing?"

"Thats some philosophy, Jeany boy." He turned the sharpest look to me for that comment,

"Jeany boy," he gave it to me again

"Stop calling me that name."

"What does it mean?"

"Nothing."

"Then why does it bother you?" he gave a grunt at my pecking and changed his angle to Marco, who didn't do much about it. So he sighed and went quiet. Leaving us twins to giggles.

On the eve of our graduation they had us on wall duty. We just had to guard them for the day, a single day. It's not like anything would happen the last Titan breach was five years ago, we would be safe. Damn I was naive. By the time one o'clock rolled around over half our day was gone and I'd be one step closer to being a hero. Sasha came up to a group of us holding out meat saying how she was going to cook it for dinner and we could have some if we kept it quiet. We all agreed. I looked around at the clear skies and vast greenery, taking in the wonder of our world and how peaceful and safe it could be without Titans. I glared around more my eyes falling on Eren, ah Eren, he grew quite a bit through training. He never did anything special, but he had a fire burning inside that passed on to us, or me at least. His drive gave me motivation too, that's one of the things I like about him, not that he just was cute but he gave me more of a purpose and a sense of direction. He looked liked he was giving an internal monologue or something the way his hair forged with the wind and had a smile of approval and a look of accomplishment. The day was going well we had only a few more hours but then Hell arrived. As I gazed at Eren with soft eyes they hardened with fear when The Colossal Titan appeared right behind him, crouching down to see more to our level, he had intelligence, but how much? Eren reacted amazingly quick immediately taking off , swinging from wall to Titan, running up his arm and about to slash his neck when he disappeared. He left without a trace, only a hole in the wall and nothing more. It was peculiar, but we didn't have time to worry about him, we had to evacuate the town and defend the walls. Soon enough we split into our squads and were given sectors to cover. My squad had the middle guard with most of the rest of the 104s. I split away from Marco and ran after Jean and the rest of my squad, I wish I stayed. The city was in chaos with buildings crumbling and people running with no order. I hated no order, how would the world work with no order? It wouldn't. There was no order and dead bodies were adding up. Not long after the battle started the front guard was decimated, leaving the newest soldiers to defend everything. It went well in the beginning, no one from our squad died but the Titans were. But as more flooded in the harder it became, we had to protect one another even more while the giant Bastards snapped our cables and sent us flying. I saw a few of the people I grew not to hate being brutally murdered because the Titans wanted it, they didn't need to eat they chose to and they chose us. I watched them die but I barely felt a thing, it was like I was out of emotions. All this thinking made me lose focus and when I snapped back I was in the hand of a Titan.

"AHHHHHH! HELP! PLEASE SOMEONE! HELP ME!" tears started to stream down my face as I got closer "ANYONE HELP ME! AHHHHHHH! MARCO! JEAN! SOMEBODY!" I felt a jolt shoot through me and the Titan as he began to fall and I was released, Jean was my savior.

"Try not to get killed, Marco would kill me if you did on my watch." I tried to dry my face but the tears wouldn't stop rolling, as I was wiping myself clean I heard Jean zip off back to the fight while I muttered a "thank you, Jean" kneeling on the ground trying to regain my composure. It took me a little before I could stand again after my brush with death. I was shaking like I hadn't before and could hardly move. I finally managed to get back up and started flying setting my sights to the sky before I snapped back down to dirt and making a strike on my prey. I had become known for using this trick and had been praised by it, but I only ever used it on test dummies and still targets, having moving ones was more of a challenge but was still capable. As I landed on a chimney, out of reach of the Titans, I started to think of the old superstition that the rarer the twins the more luck they brought. Well I was the rarest twin out there maybe I'm not that good but I'm that lucky? I snapped out when I heard Armin screaming. What Hell could've happened? I made my way over to him, when I found him he was curled up tight next to a brick wall, sobbing and with heavy breath. He was covered in a thick coat of clear goop, what was it?

"Armin? Are you okay? We should move to somewhere safer, Armin. We don't want to let the Titans get us. Come on." I was kneeling next to him trying to pry him up from his lap so at least our eyes would meet. He didn't want to move, he only wanted to cry and plea for whatever. I tried several times to get him to move but he hardly acknowledged my presence. "Armin, get the fuck up before we become Titan food. I don't plan on dying today and you're not going to be the one to fuck that up for me so get your blonde ass up off the ground and come with me before I carry you like a princess." He seemed to get my point and pushed himself up now looking at my eyes with grief, and fear. Why? "Armin, can you tell me what happened and why you're not with your squad?" I had a hand on his shoulder to keep him focusing, as soon as I said this his eyes filled with more tears and I got the message "Okay, can you tell me where Eren is?" I apparently didn't get the whole picture because he started to shake and panic. "Oh no. Armin please tell me he's not- this is a cruel joke Armin. Please be kidding, Armin, don't do this, don't say that. He can't be, without him I- Eren, Eren you can't be. Armin?" I was on the verge of tears while Armin looked at me the way I looked at him, with pity, fear, and sadness. "We should move. And you can explain more later because I need to know what happened and why." He stood and nodded in agreement. We made a break for the roofs and all the other cadets gathering, there was a significant drop in numbers.

"Armin, where's your squad? Where's Eren?" Mikasa charged the questions

"Cadets... of squad thirty-four, Thomas Wagner, Nack Tius, Millius Zerumski, Mina Carolina, Eren Jaeger. These five carried out their mission and put up a heroic fight!" Whispers broke out across our limited group not wanting to believe the words that had just hit us. Fear broke out just as quickly, not like we weren't scared before but now it was much worse. Bringing the question to mind "If the Titans did that to them, what would they do to us?"

"I'm sorry, Mikasa. Eren... gave his life for me. I couldn't do anything. I'm so sorry!

"Armin, calm down. This is no time to be sentimental. Come on get up." She had a broken look in her eyes. Mikasa took his hand lightly and pulled him up and turned to walk to the edge of the roof. "Marco, if we get rid of the Titans around headquarters we could refill our gas tanks and make it up the wall. Am I right?"

"Yeah, that's correct but even with you, there's still too many of them..."

"We can do this." she sent him a glare "I am... strong! Stronger than all of you... Much stronger! I can scatter those Titans even if I have to do it myself! You guys are cowards and wusses... without fighting skills. I feel sorry for you, stay here and twiddle your thumbs and watch me do this. If I can't, I die. If I win, I live. I can't win if I don't fight." she jumped off and started swinging while gathering speed.

"What's shameful is your way with words. That was a pathetic pep talk, it's all your fault Eren!" Jean was talking to himself and then pointed to us. "Hey! Did they teach us to let our fellow soldier fight alone?! You're turning into pathetic cowards!" he ran to the edge with Connie at his heels. We all started calling each other fools, cowards, wusses, and anything else we could think of and flung ourselves after Mikasa. Like the suicidal bastards we truly were. And the odd thing was is that it worked, it rilled up the others causing them to yell and raise their swords then charge after us. I made it closer to the front, I could see Mikasa, Jean, Connie, and Marco. I flung between Jean and Marco matching their speed but falling behind Mikasa.

"How is she able to go that fast?" Connie marveld

"She's using too much extra gas. She'll run out soon enough." They all gave me a look as she cut across yet another Titan, mowing them down not giving them a chance to react. Then she began to fall, still being graceful about it she plummeted to the stone road. Connie and Armin went to help her and left Jean in the lead. We came to a roof and looked at the misery around us.

" _There's no way we can make it back to hq."_ Jean thought to himself. He looked down to see one of our own run out of gas and two others try to save him. "No! Stop, you don't have to-!" it was too late. Number one was gone and two and three were in the Titans's clutches. Inches away from blood. We listened to their screams one last time before it all went silent. We made it through the Titan army ahead of us and were only a skip away from gas refills. Sadly another was caught and couldn't be helped. We crashed through windows with not many making it, only to find people cowering under desks with one blood stained. They were the Quartermaster's Corps, the ones who left us to die. Jean grabbed one and hit him, while Marco tried to hold him back he yelled what we went through just to get to that room. They made excuses of how Titans made it into the supplies depot but they should've known how to deal with it. While the fighting went on a Titan face appeared in the wall and sent us all into more panic and shock. Two Titans looked at us like a mother and father, it was weird to think about. All of a sudden a fist came pushing in from the side, what the hell? A Titan was attacking it's own kind, this was unheard of. It pushed them both to the ground and let out an ear piercing scream. While we very stuck in petrification more windows shattered bringing two- no three people back from the dead.

"Mikasa!" Jean let out. "You're... alive."

"Yeah! Armin, your plan worked!" Connie said hitting the blondes back "Hey listen everyone! That's a unique variant, and it's targeting other Titans!" He pointed to the beast who looked familiar, but where? I've never really seen a Titan before? "It won't even pay attention to us! If we play our cards right we can get out of here!" We were all appalled by the idea. A Titan, our savior? In our dreams. But this wasn't a dream, regardless we had to keep it fighting, it was our only real chance. We let it fight as we tried to get more gas and blades but there were seven Titans overtaking the depot. Surprise, surprise, Armin came up with a plan to save our asses once again.

"It's risky but it should work. We'll have our seven best hiding in the rafters waiting to kill them while the rest of us will go down in the lift and wait until they get close enough to blind them with the old rifles we found. If one of us messes up, we could all be dead. If anyone has a better plan please don't hesitate." No one did, we all had full confidence in Armin's plan so we took our positions, the seven somehow managed to get in place with nothing noticing them and we lowered ourselves closer to hell.

"Wait to fire, we need them closer!" Marco commanded. They got closer, close enough to look down the barrell and sent shivers down my spine. "FIRE!" we all shot on his words sending all the Titans back a step and the seven launching themselves down. They all hit except Connie and Sasha, they were so lightly off I don't know how they did it. Mikasa and Annie stepped in and dealt the blows, having them fall to their knees and vaporizing. We lowered ourselves to the solid ground and free to refill our tanks and restock blades. We did without hassle and made our way out with spirits back up. But it didn't last long, we flew to a roof where Mikasa was gazing out.

"They're eating it? Cannibalism!?" Armin exclaimed

"Great, now we can get out of this Hell." Jena kindly pointed out

"What if it could be an ally? Wouldn't it be more usefull and powerfull than all the cannons we have?" I pointed out as that Titan gave me a certain familiarity.

"An ally? Really?" Jean was confused at how or why they would do that

"Hey, that's the Titan that ate Thomas!" Armin pointed out and the Berserk Titan went crazy at the sight of it. He pushed through his attackers and lost both his arms leaving only way of attacking. He bit into his throat and swung him into the ground and back then threw him into another Titan causing a building to collapse. With one last roar he fell to the ground, steam coming out from every angle and the shell of a human in it's neck. Eren Yeager was not dead but a Titan in disguise. Mikasa jumped down with Armin at her stead. She grabbed him and hugged in relief then checked for a pulse and lost all of her cool composer, breaking down into tears.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Anyone who was still alive from the battle was given a gag order not to say anything about anything that happened there to anyone. We could barely talk to each other so it wasn't much of a problem. Marco was helping a guy who was having a mental breakdown and tried to get Sasha to help but she snapped. Jean, Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner were standing together talking about whatever before they zipped away to get closer to an explosion. I just sat in an alley where I could hear everything and see a lot but nothing much, it let me keep an eye on Marco and that's all I really needed, I just needed him to be okay. Only about two hours later the sun started to set and we were gathered for a recon mission: they wanted us to retake Trost. While waiting for the run down people were freaking the fuck out. They wouldn't stop screaming about their families and how suicidal it was to go back there, some even tried to get others to do it for them so they would make sense of it all and call it off. General Dot Pixis was an old man with only a mustache for hair and a horrible drinking habit but he had a commanding voice with a plan.

"ATTENTION!" he yelled from the top of the wall "I WILL NOW BEGIN TO EXPLAIN THE PLAN TO RECLAIM TROST DISTRICT! OUR OBJECTIVE FOR THE PLAN'S SUCCESS IS TO SEAL THE HOLE IN THE GATE! AS FOR HOW WE SEAL THE HOLE, LET ME START BY INTRODUCING THIS MAN, CADET EREN YEAGER." His voice boomed

"Eren?!" several of us exclaimed but mostly me.

"HE IS THE SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT OF OUR TOP-SECRET EXPERIMENTS TO CREATE A HUMAN TITAN. HE IS ABLE TO MAKE A TITAN BODY THAT HE CAN CONTROL."

"WHAT?! How is that possible? It's not just because I'm stupid that I don't understand this right?" Connie turned to Ymir

"Don't talk right now, Idiot." She said in her usual composer

"AFTER TRANSFORMING INTO TITAN FORM HE WILL LIFT THAT HUGE BOULDER NEAR THE GATE AND CARRY IT TO THE BROKEN GATE AND PLUG IT. YOUR JOB IS TO PROTECT HIM FROM THE OTHER TITANS WHILE HE CARRIES THE BOULDER." All across the bait, sorry soldiers, there were breakouts of "I'm spending our final days with my family!" or "Bullshit! They want us to die here and now! There's no way we can hold the power of Titans!" A lot of them started to leave lowering our numbers and chance of success, but before they could get far a high officer pulled his blade on others saying "Are you ready?! I'll cut you down here and now!" and ended with Pixis "ON MY AUTHORITY, ANYONE WHO LEAVES RIGHT NOW WILL BE PARDONED. A PERSON WHOSE SUCCUMBED TO THE WRATH OF THE TITANS CAN NEVER FACE ONE AGAIN. THOSE WHO HAVE LIVED THROUGH THE HORROR OF TITANS SHOULD LEAVE NOW AS SHOULD THOSE WHO WANT EVERYONE PRECIOUS TO THEM TO RELIVE THAT HORROR! LEAVE HERE NOW!" The wandering ones were coming back to their places, thinking of what hell they would put their families through. I watched as they made it back and lost focus on the man yelling at us. I could still hear his shouting but nothing sunk in after that point. The next thing I saw was all of us looking horrified up at him unsure of his plan, but ready to take action.

I was placed in the Decoy Squad, all we did was hang from the wall without engaging the Titans. It wasn't a hard task, Eren had the hard job. He had to lift a boulder and carry it to the gaping hole, if he failed he would have been responsible for so many meaningless deaths. God I hoped he could do it. A green flare was set off meaning the mission had begun and the elites were taking action. Not too long after there was an explosion, golden light with red and green lightning sent out a heat way and blinded us.

"What the fuck was that?" I said a little too loudly

"I've seen that before, I saw that same flash five years ago!" Armin exclaimed

"What?"

"Oh, Mabella, you heard that?"

"You are four feet from me Armin. Of course I heard that. But what was that explosion?" just after I asked the blonde a fifteen meter Titan stood and roared "So that was the explosion." I answered myself. The Titan didn't move for a little it only gave a few heavy looking breaths and then turned to hit something.

"Mikasa!" Armin whispered but I could still hear him. Despite the fact we were above the Titans some could still reach us. They climb on top of each other pushing the ones in front down and standing on their backs. They were able to grab some of our legs or even arms, ripping them off and leaving them crippled and useless to the military. If you were injured you were taken up and replaced by another soldier. It didn't take long before a red flare was sent up telling us something was wrong, we were pulled off the wall and given extra gas tanks to carry on our backs. Armin saw this and knew something was wrong about Eren then charged off with Marco calling after him.

Jean's squad and I decided to set out into the city and keep the Titans from getting in. We were given permission and set out with the help of a higher up saying if we felt threatened we could act on our own accord. Not long after we were down there Titans began to hound us, chasing us into corners and swiping left and right. Connie was cornered and tried to use his 3DM gear but it didn't stick in the wall leaving him open on the ground with a Titan a few feet from him. Jean came from the back scrapping the Titan with his hook and stealing it away from the bald boy. I was standing on a wall and debating to jumping down to Jean who was having a malfunction; is hooks weren't shooting when he ran past the Titan and took shelter in an abandoned house. So I decided to leave him knowing he would find a way and left for the higher wall.

"Marco, thank god you're alive." I ran to hug him.

"I'm fine Mabella, but stop squeezing my air out or I won't be." I let go with but I didn't want to "Where's Jean?"

"He's hiding somewhere from a Titan. I tried to help him but there was nothing I could do."  
"There he is. He's trying to take the gear from that dead guy, and the Titan spotted him! Stay here!" he barked to me as he jumped down into blood. I almost went after him but I stayed heeding his orders, but I stayed in a constant state of fear. Why did I listen? Marco flung himself in front of the Titan taking him away from Jean and letting him get the working gear. He had working gear but he saw still running, why? I didn't know his reasoning but Connie jumped to let him get away from yet another Titan. They collided heads and Connie jumped back before getting swatted at and fleeing the scene. They all somehow made it back and before I could run to my brother again the ground was shaking like someone was stomping. Eren's Titan had gotten to the boulder and was carrying it to the wall. We were given the order to protect Eren until death and none of us hesitated to do so. Before we did I looked to Marco with worry filled eyes and said words I'll never forget "Be careful, Marco. Don't die, I mean it." and he returned my look with a smile saying a phrase that changed me for better or worse, I still don't know "You'll never let me die, Polo. So I won't. Besides who would you baby without me around?"

"Jean... Maybe Eren..." I said the 'Eren' part quieter but he still heard.

"What was that last part?"

"You misheard, now GO!" and we jumped to what could've been our deaths. We cleared Titans from every direction to allow a free path for the Transformer. People were torn apart, literally, by the Titans. There were so many of them and so little of us but we somehow did it. We kept the Titans at bay and cut them out entirely. Then our victory was truly claimed as Eren threw down the oversized rock and I could see Marco from a roof and he was smiling as usual, but it was a different smile, it was bright and pure and his eyes had the same look. I don't know how else to describe it other than Marco. I watched as Mikasa and Armin pulled Eren from a Titan again and as two Titans came up to them about to do what Titans do when a green cape and poor lighting cut clean through them. The small figure landed on a Titan corpse and rendering the question: "Hey... you kids! What the hell happened here?" We were forced away and went back to base, I didn't see Marco walking back with us but I figured he was alright. ***Author's note: that's a pun*** Nothing could put me down and out of this mood, we fucking just won something against the Titans. Maybe we twins were really good luck after all?

Not to long after we got back we were deployed again for cleanup and disposal. We had to move as quickly as we could to prevent any disease from breaking out. So we suited up with masks and gloves and begun a body count. There were so many, it wasn't fair to them. They didn't deserve to die, they were just helping and got taken away. It wasn't fair, none of them deserved to die especially the Cadets I spent the past three years with. They were all so young and innocent, where was the equivalency? Where was Truth when you needed it? It wasn't fair at all. There was no order or meaning to the lives lost. They were all there to die on this day, nothing more. How pitiful and sickening. I could see a familiar trot not far ahead of me and he stopped in his tracks glaring at another person sitting against the wall with a lifeless posture. Why did the lives have to be wasted? He talked to a counter as I called them before walking off and away. His walked changed considerably, it was sad and slower. I ran up to him passing the perched corpse and not giving it a thought and raced to him.

"Jean!" He turned to me and his eyes widened with fear and looked like they've seen true hell. It was utterly despairing to see him like that.

"Ma-bella..." he stuttered

"Hey you look really upset, seen a ghost or something?" I tried to lighten the mood with dark-ish humor

"You could say that, but I think it was worse than a ghost."

"Wow, dark much? I'm trying to make you look less depressed and that comment didn't help you."

"Sorry... It's just there's so many of them." he turned from my face to the ground

"You're not telling me something Pony Boy. If you're hiding something fine, but tell Marco and I about it later, 'kay?"

"I thought I was a horse?"

"You're what I say you are."

"Cadets! Get back to work before an epidemic breaks out!" someone of significantly higher rank aimed at us.

"At least tell Marco later, he worries about you almost as much as he worries about me!" I ran off so another sector to help identify the bodies and keep tallies on them, it's as boring and depressing as it sounds. In the end I counted about 113 bodies from half of the city alone, I reeked of blood and sweat and desperately needed a shower but the Cadets of the 104s decided to pay tribute to the fallen so we stayed while the bodies were burned to remember them and the ones we knew. Jean scraped the ground to pick up some ash and held it close, almost crying too, which begged my question. So without breaking eyes from the fire I said

"Jean, wheres Marco?" They all looked at me with with such fear and pity "Jean?" he had broken down and began sobbing into his clutched hand "Jean..." I had just about broken down, I was seconds from it. Tears began to overflow to the ground while my mind ran with too many emotions to process all at once. I tried to throw myself into the flames burning my brother gone so I could see for myself what really happened to him but I was held back by two opposing figures.

"Connie! Let go of me! I need to get Marco out! Connie!" grunting I tried to break free not caring if I went down with the flames "Sasha! Stop it! I need to see Marco! He told me he wouldn't die! He broke his promise to me! I need to help him! He would never lie so he can't be dead! Marco! Marco! MARCO! PLEASE MARCO! TALK TO ME! LET ME KNOW THAT YOU'RE OKAY AND ALIVE! MARCO... Marco... why? Why Marco... why did you leave me... IT'S NOT FAIR TO ME YOU CAN'T DIE. I WON'T LET YOU! MARCO!" I had fully broken myself. The dirt turned to mud as I fell prey to my emotions, the duo had let go but had stayed with me to try and help. "We were supposed to be lucky... You were supposed to live this time. That was my last chance before I'm forced to reincarnate. I killed you again... Marco." I sobbed quietly to myself as the bald boy rubbed my back and the girl took my shoulders to hers.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

He shot up in bed with the sun hitting and burning his face. Today was the day he would join the military and set out for the MPs. He looked around his room as if to see an anomaly but only saw his red hand quilted blanket leaking into the hallway "Polo?" he said through staggered breath. "So it was a dream? But it all seemed so vivid and real. Just my active imagination as Mom would say." He teased himself.

"Marco! Breakfast is getting cold!" a familiar voice echoed to his room, he dashed out expecting someone, anyone but his mother looking at him. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something. Are you okay?" That was her voice.

"Just a really weird dream." he said as he sat down, still in a daze.

"Well it seem to shake you up, what was it about?"

"This girl named Mabella was my twin and we joined the military together. She was really protective of me and was everything I wasn't. Like complete opposites but we still stuck with each other like the sun and moon. I died in the end of the dream, I was eaten by a Titan and all she did was break down at me being gone. She totally lost it and almost killed herself in her grief. Then I shot up in bed, it felt really real like it was almost a warning." He glanced to his mother who glanced to his father and they seemed to be having a mental conversation almost like 'you tell him' 'no you tell him' "What?"

"Marco, you have a sister. Had a sister I mean. A twin actually, her name was Marbelle. She died shortly after you were born from a sickness. You two were vastly different, you tried to break free of her wrath but even as a baby she tried to help you more than herself." his father let on.

"You're only telling me about my sister now?"

"It never seemed like a good time to say it. We're sorry that this is how you found out." His mother jumped in. He could see a figure that looked like Mabella from the corner of his eyes and twisted around to find nothing but his blanket moved closer to him.

"Did you guys call us Marco and Polo at all or ever?"

"How could we not? You were perfect for each other." said Mother dear. He ate and went to his room where his door was closed. When did he close it? On the door he could see scratches inches apart that looked like 'W-ol-\ol-C-0' or 'M-a-R-C-O' when it was flipped around. But he never marked his door. He prepared for his journey still in a dazed state and left his home as soon as possible. He came across a picture while packing, one that looked like it was from his dream: where a girl who looked like him with that boyish self cut haircut and a horse faced french boy with his arm around her dragging her in close and smiling, almost kissing her, and he knew it wasn't a dream after all. But when was that picture taken? They had never gotten together, unless, that picture was from his past life in the future after he died, his best friend went to console his sister and they ended up together. His "dream" was his sister trying to help him live past his fate.

"That's exactly how it went in my dream, that was the same good bye." He said as he watched his parents mimic themselves. He went to the wagon waiting at the main gate where other teenagers had gathered, including a boy with a horse like persona, a bald boy and a red-ish brown haired girl. He climbed in and looked around to see all the others from his "dream" and saw a girl who reminded him of his mother.

"Excuse me is your name by any chance 'Marbelle'?" She looked at him with a warm smile that resonated like his own and gave him butterflies.

"Close, it's actually Mabella, Mabella Ben. But friends call me Marci."

"Is that considered close?"

"I count it, take a seat...?"

"I'm Marco by the way. Marco Bodt, thanks."

"Marco, huh, you seem really familiar to me, like I've spent a lifetime with you. I think we'll get along like night and day. Kinda like brother and sister."

"I would expect nothing less." He said as the wagon trailed off, taking in the views around him when a wind hit him. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" the look alike questioned him.

"You didn't hear someone say Polo?" She shook her head "Huh," He smiled off to the side and let the name float around his head. "Guess it was a ghost."


End file.
